CHANG Jia's solo exhibition is organized by Gaain Gallery and independent curator Byung Hak Ryu. Gaain Gallery and Ryu has selected five artist who have competitive talent internationally and CHANG Jia is the first artist for this project.

In 2000, starting with 'Physical condition to be an artist,' CHANG Jia opened a new era or art so that she has challenged 'gender discrimination' and 'taboo sanctuary', and awakened artists' conscience and attitude.

In the first space of Gaain Gallery, there are piled red bricks on the table. But what comes to audiences first is smell rather than visual image of them. This is 'Bricks Made from the Blood of a Butchered Cow' (2012). "A process to change cow's blood, which has sustained a life and supplied the energy, into an object of another material was struggle for keeping my spiritual thing. A time to transform original meaning and values, shortly distinct energy and broken vitality into smelly and moldy object of daily life could make me accumulate inner energy for fighting with coming trials in the future." CHANG Jia said. 

For the second space, drawing works on cowhide are on display. There are beautiful landscapes drawn. However, actually these are not made by drawing but ironing. These are called 'Seared Landscape' (2012). The landscape is not fictitious ideal subject but disparate scenes she has seen, such as dried meat and beautiful landscape, are ironed like tattoo. Also on 'To survive the Death' (2013), 10 questions and images are ironed. Those images seem like camouflaging 'to survive the death.' It tells you that the artist rises a question for what life is.

She has exhibited at non-profit galleries only and it is the first exhibition at commercial one. Exhibiting non-profit works at commercial space is an encounter with different things like 'beautiful torture' or 'beautiful instrument.'

*image (left)
© CHANG Jia 
courtesy of the artist and Gaain Gallery